Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Whispers

Book that holy holidayIt’s the Mahakumbh time of the year. A new Mumbai-based website called Spiritual Yatra has announced ‘Karmic Voyage,’ free trips for devotees, from Mumbai to Nashik to attend the Nashik Mahakumbh Mela 2015 on the auspicious days of ‘Shahi-Snan’, where millions of devotees bathe in the holy river.

Crowds at the Kumbh Mela in Nashik

People interested will have to register with Spiritual Yatra on the website, www.spiritualyatra.co.in. On every ‘Shahi-Snan’ date that is August 26, 29 and September 13, 18 and 25, the website will run one bus from Mumbai to Nashik free of cost on each of these dates.

The Kumbh Mela rotates among the four holy sites every three years. This year, Kumbh Mela will be held at Nashik, Maharashtra after 12 years. The Mela is marked by millions of devotees, who take a plunge into the river Godavari, to cleanse their souls, leading to salvation. A ritual bath at a predetermined time and place is the major event of the festival.

Dadar’s IronmanOur favourite (and most handsome) marathoner from Shivaji Park in Dadar, just gave us one more reason to smile.

Milind Soman

50-year-old Milind Soman completed the Ironman Triathlon Challenge on Monday in Zurich, Switzerland. Defying age and a million other hurdles, the hunk completed the endurance competition in 15 hours and 19 minutes.

His timings included a 3.8km swim, a 180.2km cycle ride and a 42.2km run that participants are required to complete under 16 hours to earn the title of ‘Ironman’.

To lager, better daysWhat are the three things a large number of Mumbaikars need to recharge their batteries on a lazy Sunday? This diarist believes the best prescription would be great company, superb food and a pint or two of beer.

With the concept of pop-ups gaining popularity, Mumbaikars are now exposed to different regional cuisines. Recently, the city hosted an Assamese pop-up at The Pint Room in the western suburbs. Now, the same venue will play host to Bengali cuisine this Sunday, followed by a Parsi cuisine pop-up.

The pub’s founder, Pradeep Gidwani, describes the event as “regional cuisine meets the ‘world of beer’ ” on his Facebook page. It’s exactly what it is: different worlds colliding to ensure your Sundays are spent in lap of good food and frothy brew. Time to mark these dates on our calendars, what say?

The Physics of funSo who says science nerds are all work and no play? Certainly not us. Theme park Adlabs Imagica at Khopoli, off the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, recently hosted 500 students from 90 countries as a part of the 46th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO). This is an annual competition in physics for secondary school students, held across the globe.

Students at the park

The IPhO was held in Mumbai this year and Adlabs Imagica was the venue for their outdoor program. There was a mix of work and play though as the visit was a part of the study program to witness and observe physics in action as the students could actually study the rides.

So, the theme park became an edutainment (ah, these cocktail phrases are just so in, like Brangelina, etc.) centre for Physics students from all over the world. We presume there may have been an animated discussion about the Physics that went into the makings of a rollercoaster. Or, maybe, they left that behind and just enjoyed the ride. Sometimes, even science can wait.